A tough crackdown on the vote by Spanish riot police has drawn criticism from some quarters and prompted hundreds of thousands of Catalans to rally in protest. Catalonia's planned a referendum on secession is due to be held Sunday by the pro-independence Catalan government but Spain's government calls the vote illegal since it violates the constitution, and the country's Constitutional Court has ordered it suspended.

Some 890 people and 30 police officers were injured on Sunday.

He also spoke to other European leaders and thanked them for supporting Spain’s constitutional order, the statement said. But Puigdemont called for an global arbiter to mediate the crisis, ideally the European Union.

Meanwhile, a Spanish judge has placed Catalonia’s regional police chief under judicial investigation for sedition over his handling of unrest last month sparked by the region’s contested independence drive.

SGR, which is sister company of Sphere Consulting, began work in August for the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia to the USA under a three-month contract worth $60K. “It can not look the other way any longer”, The Guardian quoted Puigdemont, as saying. He said Catalonia had “won the right to become an independent state”.

“I’ve seen how President Puigdemont has flooded the streets with his followers to stop people obeying the law and to make them disrespect justice”, she said.

At a news conference on Monday, Mr Puigdemont said: “We don’t want a traumatic break”. Forty-two percent of voters reportedly took part. “We have to present the results of the referendum to parliament”. The Spanish interior ministry, in turn, said that 13 law enforcement officials had been hurt in clashes. In all, around 850 people were sent to hospital, including 33 police officers.

Catalonia, which has its own language and culture, is one of Spain’s economic powerhouses. Public opinion studies have repeatedly shown that most Catalonia residents support a referendum.

“We are going through hard and complicated moments and with respect to what could happen in the future we will take it on with calm and wisdom”.

“The UGT and the CCOO clearly state that we do not back this position or this political strategy”.